Soccer News of Sunday, 18 May 2014

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

2014 World Cup: Focusing on individuals will be a mistake - Gyan

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan insist they are not distracted by talk that Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo could cause havoc to the Black Stars when the two sides clash at the World Cup.

The UAE-based attacker says the Black Stars will focus on teams rather than being distracted by particular players during the group phase of the competition to be held in Brazil next month.

Ghana have been placed in the Group of Death as they will face a tough opponents like Germany, Portugal and the United States.

The Black Stars, making their third-straight appearance at the World Cup, will open the campaign against the United States on June 16 before meeting Germany on June 21.

Then the final group game will be against a Portugal side which will be led by the Real Madrid star, Ronaldo, on June 26 in Brasilia.

Gyan knows Ghana will have to beat the best to keep their campaign going, but warns focusing all their attention on individuals will be a mistake.

“Ronaldo is the world player (of the year) and there is no doubt that he is critical to the cause of the Portuguese team, but for us we are not going to be distracted because of him,” Gyan said.

“I am not bothered because we are playing Portugal because the World Cup is the biggest stage and there are no small teams. Every team who qualifies has done so on merit.

“We are playing against the best and we cannot do anything about that, we just have to get ourselves ready.”

The Black Stars will start camping for the World Cup on Tuesday.